All You Need to Know About Book Citations in APA Style

APA style citations are very common in social sciences, psychology, and more such fields. Yes, students mostly have problems when using this style of citation. Some think it’s tough; for some, it’s too complex to understand.

Not today! Since this interesting, precise, and very informational expert guide will help you know all the nits and grits of a book citation in APA style. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Formatting Guidelines About Book Citations in APA Style

Basic Format

The APA Style typically follows this format for book citations.

Author(s). (Year of publication). Title of the book in an essay. Publisher.

Let’s break this down for better understanding.

Author(s)

Here, you have to list the last name and initials of the author. You have the freedom to add up to seven authors. Don’t forget to use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name in case there is more than one author. Consider this example:

When Citing One Author: Smith, J. D.

When Citing Two Authors: Smith, J. D., & Johnson, M. S.

When Citing Three to Seven Authors: Smith, J. D., Johnson, M. S., Brown, A. L., Davis, R. E., Clark, K. P., White, B. R., & Lee, C. A.

Year of Publication

The year of publication must be enclosed in parenthesis, which is followed by a period.

For Example: (2020).

Title of the Book

For citing the title of the book, ensure to:

Italicize the title of the book
Capitalize the first letter of the first word, proper nouns, and the first letter of any subtitles.
End with a period.

For Example, The Art of Writing: A Comprehensive Guide.

Publisher

APA style requires you to use the name of the publisher as well, which is followed by a period.

For Example: Penguin Random House.

Examples of Full Book Citations in APA Style

When a Book Has Only One Author:

Smith, J. D. (2020). The Art of Writing: A Comprehensive Guide. Penguin Random House.

When a Book Has Two Authors:

Smith, J. D., & Johnson, M. S. (2019). Effective Communication Strategies. Academic Press.

When a Book Has Three to Seven Authors:

Smith, J. D., Johnson, M. S., Brown, A. L., Davis, R. E., Clark, K. P., White, B. R., & Lee, C. A. (2018). Team Dynamics in the Workplace. Springer.

In-text Citations

In-text citations in APA style require you to put the author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses. The format may vary as per the situation:

If it’s Direct Quotation: If you directly quote from the book, include the page number as well. Example: (Smith, 2020, p. 45).

Paraphrasing of the Statement: If you paraphrase or summarize information from the book, include the author’s last name and the year. Example: (Smith, 2020).

Includes Multiple Authors: For multiple authors, use an ampersand (&) when citing in parentheses. Example: (Smith & Johnson, 2019). When there are three or more authors, use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” in subsequent citations. Example: (Smith et al., 2018).

Reference Page

The APA style also requires that all book citations must be listed on a separate page titled “References.” All the authors’ last names must be alphabetically arranged in the list. Consider reading this example for a better understanding.

References

Smith, J. D. (2020). The Art of Writing: A Comprehensive Guide. Penguin Random House.

Smith, J. D., & Johnson, M. S. (2019). Effective Communication Strategies. Academic Press.

Smith, J. D., Johnson, M. S., Brown, A. L., Davis, R. E., Clark, K. P., White, B. R., & Lee, C. A. (2018). Team Dynamics in the Workplace. Springer.

Conclusion

It’s very important to double-check the latest edition of APA guidelines if you’re dealing with more complex sources or unique situations. APA style can be tricky and have variations, so you don’t want to end up with the wrong format.

Hopefully, this expert guide was helpful in clearing all your doubts about book citations in APA style.